Wiris

Documentation / MathType

  • Demos
  • Visit our website
  • Downloads
  • Contact us
  • MathType

    • WirisQuizzes

      • LearningLemur

        • CalcMe

          • MathPlayer

            • Store FAQ

              • VPAT for the electronic documentation

                • MathFlow

                  • BF FAQ

                    • Miscellaneous

                      • Wiris Integrations

                        • Home
                        • MathType
                        • Troubleshooting & FAQs
                        • Editing and formatting equations
                        • Editing and formatting equations

                        Warning: The Text style uses the 'Times' (Plain) font, which is not available

                        Reading time: 2min

                        TechNote 176

                        Applicability

                        The information on this page applies to:
                        MathType for Mac
                        Equation Editor 2011 (14.2.0) for Mac
                        macOS 10.13.x High Sierra
                        Pages, Keynote, Numbers
                        Word 2011, PowerPoint 2011

                         

                         

                         

                         

                         

                        Issue

                        You're inserting equations into Pages (or Keynote or Numbers), and every time you click "Equation" (or "MathType Equation") from the Insert menu, you get a warning similar to this one, followed by two more -- three errors every time:

                        This also happens when editing documents you created before upgrading to High Sierra and sometimes when simply opening MathType by itself.

                        Reason

                        Whether or not you're using Pages (or Keynote or Numbers), this is due to how MathType interprets font names. The issue here is not that the Times font isn't available because the font is installed in nearly all cases we've seen. The problem is that MathType sees it not as "Times" font, but "Times Roman" font (not Times New Roman -- simply Times Roman). That's somewhat understandable since that's how macOS is reporting it:

                        If you are using Pages or one of its siblings, this is also due to how these applications set their equation preferences. See both "General solution — MathType below and the section that follows it.

                        Solutions

                        General solution - Equation Editor

                        (See next section for MathType

                        1. Navigate to your Applications folder in Finder. Scroll to Microsoft Office 2011.
                        2. Click Office, and scroll to Equation Editor.
                        3. Double-click to open Equation Editor. You'll probably get the three error messages about the Times font not being available. Click OK on each.
                        4. On the Mac Menu bar, click Styles, then Define.
                        5. Change the font to whatever you want. If you wish to use the Times font, it won't be listed, so select Times Roman (it's the same font).
                        6. Make sure "Use for new equations" is selected, but do not click OK yet.
                        7. Click the "Advanced" tab.
                        8. For "Variable" style, change the font to "Times Italic", and un-check the Italic Character Style.
                        9. For "Vector-Matrix" style, change the font to "Times Bold", and un-check the Bold Character Style.
                        10. Click OK.
                        11. Close Equation Editor if you want.

                        General solution - MathType

                        1. Navigate to your Applications folder in Finder. Scroll to the MathType folder and open it.
                        2. There are 3 files in the Preferences folder that use the "Times" font. Replace them with these. Download the file and unzip it (just double-click it in Finder and it will unzip). Then drag them over to MathType > Preferences. You'll need to be logged in as an administrator to do that.

                        If you are using Pages or its siblings, proceed to the next section...

                        If using Pages, Keynote, Numbers

                        To keep this warning from appearing, set the new equation preferences for Pages (and Keynote and Numbers, if you want) as described in our companion article, "Setting default font preferences for MathType in Pages, Keynote, and Numbers".

                        1. If you need to use Times font, look for Times Roman in the list; you won't find "Times" (don't click OK yet):

                        1. Click the "Advanced" radio button.
                        2. For "Variable" style, change the font to "Times Italic", and un-check the Italic Character Style.
                        3. For "Vector-Matrix" style, change the font to "Times Bold", and un-check the Bold Character Style.
                        4. Click OK.

                        Was this article helpful?

                        Give feedback about this article

                        Related Articles

                        • Text
                        • Toggle TeX always uses Times New Roman font
                        • CJK, Cyrillic, and special characters garbled or missing in InDesign
                        • Word is waiting for an OLE action to finish.

                        Warning: The Text style uses the 'Times' (Plain) font, which is not available

                        TechNote 176 Applicability Issue Reason Solutions General solution - Equation Editor General solution - MathType If using Pages, Keynote, Numbers

                        Empowering STEM education

                        MathType

                        • Office Tools
                        • LMS
                        • XML
                        • HTML

                        WirisQuizzes

                        Learning Lemur

                        Integrations

                        Solutions

                        • Education
                        • Publishing houses – platforms and interactive
                        • Publishing houses – Print and digital
                        • Technical writers

                        Pricing

                        Downloads

                        Blog

                        • Success stories

                        About us

                        • Careers
                        • Partnership

                        Contact Us

                        Contact Sales

                        European union (European Regional Development Fund) and 1EdTech (TrustEd Apps Certified)
                        • Cookie Policy
                        • Terms of Use
                        • Privacy Policy / GDPR
                        • Student Data Privacy
                        • Compliance
                        • Cookie Settings

                        © Wiris 2026

                        Expand